Attachment for looping-machines.



W. J. STEERE.

ATTACHMENT FOR LOOPING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED M AII. 4. I9Is.

1 ,292,527. Patented Jan. 28, 1.919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

W. 1. STEERE.

ATTACHMENT FOR LOOPING MACHINES.

APPLICAUON FILED MAR. 4, |918.

1 ,292,527. Patented Jam. 2H, 191%).

2 SHEETS-'SHEET 2.

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Dill.: 7775* -Wnz d. STEEHE.

@51a b @Hoz maisA WlLIIAllLII JAMES STEERE, F ROCKWOOD, TENNESSEE.

lSpecification ofLetters Patent.I

f ATTACHMENT FOR LOOPING-MACHINES.

Patented Jan. 28, 1919.

Application led March 4, 1918. Serial No. 220,320.

To all whom z't may concern:

Be it known that WILLIAM J. STEERE, citizen of the United States,residing at Rockwood, in the county of Roane and State of Tennessee, hasinvented certain new and useful Il nprovements in Attachments forLooping-Machines, of which the following 1s a I specification, referencebeing had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to an attachment for 'looping machines, and moreparticularly to a device for joining two edges of a knitted fabric,mainly for closing the gap or opening left in the toe portion of aseamless stockmg.

The object of this invention is the provision of means for cutting oreliminating automatically the chain thread made by a looping machine atthe vacant intervals where no fabric is attached to the looper pointsfor the needle to sew. It is to be understood that there is a largepercentage of time lost by the operator having to break this chain byhand, and also very frequently there is a long length of this chain leftinside of the hose or stocking, .which is very uncomfortable to thewearer, and to eliminate these disadvantages, I have produced my simpleand eicient device as hereinafter specifically described and minutely`illustrated in the accompanying drawings. I

With the foregoing object in view, other objects and advantages of myinvention will appear in the following specification, and be moreparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.'

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a device constructed in accordance withthe present invention, showing the same attached to a looping machine. l

'Fig 2 is a view in front elevation of the device illustrated in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a vertical, sectional view taken on line 3 3, Fig. 1, lookinginthe direction of the arrows.

sions or lugs 4, through which extend securing screws 5 that attach theentire device to the part 1 of the looper dial.

A rotary brush 6 is attached to the lower end of vertical shaft 6 andsecured to the top of brush 6 is a ratchet plate 7, which ratchet plate7 is provided with the teeth 8, and secured t0 the under face of theratchet plate 7, and evenly spaced around the same, is a plurality ofround-headed ,screws 9, Fig. 2.

Interposed between the hub portion 10 of the bracket 3 and the ratchetplate 7 is a swinging or rocker arm 11, which arm 11 carries, at itsouter end, a spring-pressed pawl 12, and between the pawl 12 and theinner end of the rocker arm 11 is connected a link 13, which link 13 ispivotally connected to an extension 14 on part 15 of a looper; by anymovement, the rocker arrn 1l, carrying the spring-pressed pawl 12, maybe vactuated for imparting an intermittent rotary movement to theratchet plate 7 and brush 6,

'the brush 6 carrying the depending bristles as shown.

The hub portion 10 of the bracket 3 is provided with a primary,outwardly-extending lug 16 and an auxiliary outwardly-extending lug 17.The lugs 16 and 17 are each .85

provided with set-screws 18 for the purpose hereinafterdescribed/Positioned in the primary lug 16 is an auxiliary bracket arm19, and said arm 19 is held in position by means of the set-screw 18carried by the lug 16. This auxiliary bracket arm 19 carries, at itslower end, the guard plate 20, the guard plate 20 being threaded, at 21,upon the lower end of the auxiliary bracket arm 19 and held securely onthis bracket arm, by a locking nut 22. The guard plate 20 is providedupon its front edge with guard iange 23, which guards the bristles ofthe rotary brush 6 as the brush is rotated.

Secured to the auxiliary lug 17 is a substantially U-shaped guard linger24 (Fig. 2) the lower end 25 of the guard finger is Ipositioned in thepath of the bristles of rush 6 (Fig. 2) and causes thebristles to brushagainst the end 25.

I havelassembled with my device, as an essential part thereof, a cuttermade up of a stationary blade 26 and a movable swinging blade 27. Thestationary blade 26 is secured in an inclined position, in a socket 28on bracket 3, by means of a set-screw 29, upon which set-screw ispositioned a washer ,move close to the blades for directing 30,overhanging the upper edge of station- `ary blade 26, thereby securelyretaining said movable blade 27, which blade 27 .is retained y,

in an adjusted position by the set-:screw 29a; the lower cutting edge 31a of the blade 27 being positioned contiguous to the lower cut-v tingedge 31 of the stationary blade 2 6.

A single round-headed screw 38 1s carried near the inner endand upon thetop of the cutter -carrying bracket 36, and thisA round-headed screw isadapted to be engaged by t-he heads of screws 9 lcarried by .the ratchetplate 7, and as the screws 9 and screw 38 come in engagement, by reasonof their round structure, they will ride over each other, but by reasonof the cutter-carrying bracket 36 being able to swing downwardly, saidbracket will be lforced downward, as' the heads of screws 9 pass overthe head of screw 38, causing the cutter blade 27 to move downward, atits lower end, for cutting or severing a thread that is moved by thebristles of brush 6 in betweenl the cutting edges 31 and 31a of theblades yof the cutter.

Av coil-spring 39 is secured, at its lower end, to :the bracket 36 (Fig.2), and at its upper end, it is Secured to the outer end of a horizontalfixed pin 40 carried by bracket 3; this spring 39 exerts an upward pullupon the cutter-carrying bracket 36 for vholding the head or extensionof screw 38 always in the path of movement of the heads of screws 9, sothat, at certain' intervals, by reason of the heads of screws 9 cominginto engagement with the head of screw 38, the mov- -able blade 27 ofthe cutter is operated for causing fthe cutting action for severing thestrand. l

` A flat guard fingerl is secured, at .its inn er end, by screw 42, tothe side of the bracket `(F ig.- 1), vand this guard finger serves tokeepthebristles of the brush 6 from comin into contact with the blades26 and 27 of t e cutter, notwithstanding they the Strand or chain in'betweenthe cutting edges 4of the blades of the cutter.

Having described the several parts of myl ittachment, the specificoperation is as folows:

llt is to 'be understood that when connect- On the outer end of shaft 33is a 'ing`my attachment for cutting thel chain made iby a loopingmachine at the vacant intervals between the hose lor stocking, it isvery desirable to have it setl on the jlooper machine in such a positionthat the cutting members or blades 26 and 27 will have the least chanceof doing damage to the brasses in which the looper points are inserted,hence my .reason for putting these cutting members or blades just backof these brassesinstead of over the top of' them. Now, as these brassesare of such, a `delicate nature, and

their good condition so necessary to the perfect operation ofv thelooper mechanism, it is obvious that to move the chain (which lies downclose to the brasses) in between the cutting members or blades 26 'and27, it would be necessary to use a member coni- Eosed of material otherthan metal, hence I ave used a Ibristle 'brush 6, as I deem Such a brushis the most advantageous. As the chain is liable to Occur at any .placealong the circle of points near t'he brasses because .t-he hose aresometimes of different widths,

and also because the,wish of the` operator\` 90 is .to put them on thepoints anywhere, regardless of the size, the brush 6 makes the cuttingof the chain possible at any point where the chainv occurs. The blades26 and 27 are adjusted So that when they. are open, the opening is on alevel with the'top of the brasses or moving partv of thexdial, thecutting blades 26 and 27 are now ready to receive the chain, and saidchain lies closeV to the brasses, therefore, the end of the bristles ofthe brush must be set down very close to. the points and brasses -tocomev in contact with the chain to'sweepy it in between the blades ofthe Cutter. This o ration might notl be possible but for they act thatthe chain possesses enough elasticity to hllow brush 6 to carry it outofits -tue course and in between the blades of thefhcutter. I havedescribed the movementmnecesf sary to lcut the chain at the pointer nearsidewhere the chain is attached tothe fabric-of the hose. To Severthechain' at the -the chain, after it iscut the first time, by its rotarymovement, continuesA to dra the far side, the brush 6 still having holdof chain link on top of shelf or guard 20 Fig.

5) keeping the chain taut until the dial in turning will bring the chainin between the two blades of the cutter. Tov insure the chain' stayingon the guard 20, and also to insure `of the chain being finally broughtto the `proper angle to'place' itv between the blades, I have providedan extension or the chain. p

After the chain is severed on both sides,

the brush continues to 'carry/it along on ,the

guard vportion 23v on guardv 20,- which `also guards against the brushlosing control of wire bracket 24, bent down and under the ends of thebristles, at 25', this wire performing the function, alt 25, of pointsor prongs or a sharpened edge, lactin upon the bristles, so as to cleanthe bristles or rid the same of the chain if it happens to stick to thebristles.

When sweeping the chain in between the blades 26 and 27 of the cutter,the bristles of brush 6 move very close t0 the cutting edges of theblades, and if not protected, might be injured by getting in betweentheblades,

therefore, to-prevent this happening, I provide the guard 41, whichguard41 is placed so that its outer end is brought over the brasses inbetween the blades and the bristles of brush 6; this guard 41 holds thebristles off far enough to prevent them from coming in contact with thecutter blades. The guard 41 also serves the purpose of keeping the chainfrom rising a'bove the opening between the blades of the cutter whenthey are open (Fig. 2).

To drive my attachment, any kind of' a device will do, inasmuch as it isimmaterial whether the dial moves continuously by gears or a belt or byratchet movement; however, I have shown, as the preferred form, theratchet Videa as explained. Thev looper dial moves'very slowly, onepoint to a revolution of its drive shaft, so that it is not necessary tomove the brush faster than will take lcare of the chain and itselasticity. I find the ratchet movement is fast enough; to secure thismovement, pitman or link 13 is connected to arm lfl, which is clamped tothe dial ratchet pawl 15, which pawl 15 secures its motion ormovementfrom the main shaft by an eccentric cam, not shown.

I do not nd it necessary the cutter to go through the motion of cuttingat every movement of the dial in all cases, as in the case of amachinethat would be made for very thin work, the points mightl betwenty four to the inch, and in that case,

there would be such a small amount of chain passing by that it wouldonly wear the blades out sooner, without accomplishing better re sults.Hence, I have used round-headed screws 9, which can be inserted in theratchet plates 7 at desired intervals to operate one to one, or one tofour, as the number of points to the inch reduire. Some machines are sixoints `to the inch,v and in that case, I woul `have to move blades one.The

heads of screws 9 come in `contact with the pointed head of screw 38,andthe object of this function is to cause the cutting edge of theblades`2i6 and v27 to close together when the heads of screws 9 passover the head of screw 38. On the next movement of the ratchet wheel,the head of a screw 9 passes l beyond screw 38 and the cutter bracket isfree to rise and allow the blades to be opened, as shown, for the nextoperation of y for'the blades ofy cutting a chain. This return to thenormal position is accomplished by the spring 39 Ibringing theblade-carrying bracket 36 to its normal position, as clearly shown inFig. 2.

Thecutting blades 26 and 27 are held in position through the medium ofdove-tailed grooves and are clamped tightly by screws 29 and 29a, bothscrews having dove-tailed slotted washers underneath the same, whichwashers fit the outer beveled edges of the blades 26 and 27. i

What I claim is:

1. In a mechanism of the class described, the combination with asupport, of a bracket secured to said` support, a shaft carried by saidbracket, a brush secured to said shaft, a ratchet plate secured to saidshaft, a stationary and a movable blade supported upon said bracket,means cooperating with said brush for positively directing a chain ofloose stitches between knitted articles between the blades, said ratchetplate and movable blade provided with means for intermittently swingingthe movable blade for severing the chain placed between the blades, andmeans for rotating said ratchet plate for causing the intermittentswinging of the movable blade. V

2. In a mechanism of the class described, the combination with asupport, of a bracket carried by said support, said bracket providedwith a rotary brush and with a cutter actuating means movable with saidbrush, a cutter carried by said bracket and provided with a movableblade actuated by said cutter-actuating means carried by said brush, andguard means for said brush and constituting guiding means for directinga chain of loose stitches between knitted articles between the blades ofsaid cutter.

3. In .a mechanism of the class described, the combination with asupport, of a bracket detachably secured to said support., said bracketprovided with a shaft, a rotary brush secured to the inner end of saidshaft, a ratchet plate secured to said shaft adjacent said brush, headedmembers secured t0 the under face of said ratchet plate, a rocker armprovided with la pawl and positioned upon said shaft between the bracketand said ratchet plate, said pawl engaging -said ratchet plate forintermittently rotating the same, an auxiliary bracket attached to saidfirst-mentioned bracket, a guard plate provided with a vertical flangedetachably secured to the lower end of said' auxiliary the side ofthe'iirst-mentioned bracket, and

.a substantially U-shaped guard finger car# ried by said bracket andhaving its lower inner end engaging the bristles of the brush. 4. In amechanism of the class described, the combination with a support, of astationary and a swinging blade carried by said support, a brush, aprojection, means supporting said projection on said brush, meanscoperating with the swinging blade and the projection for swinging theswinging blade at' predetermined intervals, and means coperating withthe brushvfor positively directing a chain or thread between saidblades.

5. In a mechanism of the classdescribed, the combination with a support,of a bracket carried by said support, a stationary blade fitted in aportion of. the bracket, means retaining tlie stationary blade in anadjusted position upon said bracket, a spring-pressed shaft carried bysaid bracket, a blade-carrying bracket .detachably secured to saidspringpressed shaft, a blade adjustably secured in a portion of saidblade-carrying bracket, saidblades being normally held against eachother, a detachable extension carried by said blade-carrying bracketnear its inner end, and a brush for directing a strand or a lchain inbetween the blades,

means movable with said brush and engag- 'ing 'said detachableextension-,of the bladethe brush, and a guard finger having its innerend positioned against the brush to one side of the guard plate.

7. ln a mechanism of the class described,

i the combination with a support, of a bracket carried by said support,a cutter device provided with blades carried at one side of saidbracket, a brush device carried upon the outer end of said bracket andbeing adapted to direct astrand or a chain between the blades of thecutter device, guard means interposed between the blades and the brushdevice for preventing any portion of .the brush device entering betweenthe blades, and a guard plate positioned under said brush.

lln testimony whereof I hereunto aiiix m signature.

WlLLlAM JAMES STEERE.

